Blessed Anthony della Torre distinguished himself by his care for the sick and for his efforts as a peacemaker.
Anthony, who belonged to the Della Torre or Torriani family, was born in Milan, Italy, in 1427. He studied medicine at the Univesity of Pavia and practiced surgery in his native city for a period of time. Later, against his family’s wishes, he became an Augustinian in the religious Province of Lombardy. In order to live in a community that practiced perfect observance, he transferred to the Congregation of Perugia and lived for several years in Foligno.
In 1458 he went on a pilgrimage to Saint James of Compostela in Spain and practiced his profession as physician for the sick poor; he remained in Galicia until 1464. From there he undertook an apostolic journey that led him, over a period of ten years, to various parts of Spain, France, and Italy where he preached and aided the sick.
In 1474 he was assigned to the monastery of Aquila. By appointment of the prior general he spent eighteen years giving spiritual direction to the Augustinian nuns of the monastery of Saint Lucy, and he established a sodality of Augustinian tertiaries at the church of Saint Augustine. He died in Aquila on 24 July 1494.
On 21 January 1987 his remains were transferred from the church of Saint Bernard, which at one time belonged to the Augustinians, to the church of the Augustinian monastery of Sant’ Amico in Aquila.
Blessed Anthony is remembered by the Augustinian Family on 24 July.
Rotelle, John, Book of Augustinian Saints, Augustinian Press 2000
Blessed Anthony della Torre.
